Solemnity: The Body and Blood of Christ (C)
Solemnity: The Body and Blood of Christ (C)
LA EUCARISTÍA ES PAN VIVO
En esta fiesta de su santísimo cuerpo, Jesús nos habla del Reino de Dios, sana a los que necesitan de sus cuidados y nos ofrece el pan divino a todos los que hoy estamos reunidos en esta eucaristía. Queridos hermanos: Dispongámonos a vivir la experiencia de aquellos hombres que supieron olvidar el cansancio, el hambre y la enfermedad cuando estaban junto al Maestro.
1. Era al atardecer y estaban cansados, los discípulos sugieren enviarlos a los pueblos para que coman, pero el Señor tiene otros planes: que se queden con Él. Si han venido desde tan lejos, si lo han sacrificado todo para alimentarse de su palabra, si necesitan el milagro de su curación ¿cómo mandarlos con las manos vacías? Jesús les va a dar de comer el pan que sacia el hambre del cuerpo y del alma. El mismo pan eucarístico que recibiremos nosotros en la comunión, Jesús mismo, en cuerpo, alma y divinidad. Renovemos nuestra fe en la presencia real de Cristo en la eucaristía.
2. Jesús no va a hacer las cosas solo; quiere que seamos nosotros mismos los protagonistas del milagro. Por eso toma en cuenta al niño que lleva cinco panes y dos peces. Jesús necesita que aportemos lo poco que tenemos y él lo multiplicará hasta la saciedad. ¡Cuántas veces le pedimos a Dios que atienda a nuestras necesidades, pero no colaboramos con nuestro compromiso cristiano! Y más aún, ¡Cuántas veces queremos los milagros de Dios y nos olvidamos del Dios de los milagros!
3. Aquellos cinco mil hombres comieron hasta saciarse y aún sobraron doce cestos, pero no todos percibieron en esos panes materiales el signo del pan espiritual. Se quedaron con el don y se olvidaron del donante; no descubrieron que el donante era aún mejor que el don o, más bien, que el don verdadero era el donante mismo. San Agustín comenta: "Vosotros me buscáis para la carne y no para el espíritu... Me buscáis por algo distinto. ¡Buscadme por mí!"
Comer significa creer en Él. En esta fiesta del "Corpus" Jesús nos invita a elevarnos a un nivel más alto. Somos trabajadores; luchamos por la subsistencia cotidiana; el problema del pan nos es tan esencial como el del agua a la samaritana. Jesús nos invita a trabajar no por el alimento perecedero, sino por el alimento que permanece hasta la vida eterna.
Para vivir el misterio eucarístico, síntesis de nuestra vida espiritual y temporal necesitamos ser maduros en la fe; y los judíos no lo eran, buscaban sólo las cosas materiales, buscaban sólo el pan del horno. Que la preocupación de buscar diariamente el pan para los hijos no nos haga olvidarnos de la Misa dominical en donde recibimos a Jesús el pan vivo que bajó del cielo. Él es el pan, Él es la luz, Él es pastor. "El que come de este pan vivirá eternamente" dice el Señor.
Solemnity: The Body and Blood of Christ (C)
THE EUCHARIST IS LIVING BREAD
On this feastday of his most blessed Body, Jesus speaks to us of the Kingdom of God, heals those in need of his care, and offers his divine bread to all of us who are gathered together for this Eucharistic celebration. Dear brothers and sisters, let us prepare ourselves to relive the experience of those men who knew how to forget their tiredness, hunger and sickness when they were together with the Lord.
1. It was evening and they were tired; the disciples suggest that Jesus send them to the towns for them to eat, but He has other plans -- let them stay with Him. If they have come from such a great distance, if they have sacrificed everything to be nourished by his Word, if they need the miracle of his curing, how could they be sent away empty-handed? Jesus is going to give them bread that will satisfy the hunger of their body and soul. The same Eucharistic bread we will receive in Communion, Jesus himself, in body, soul and divinity. Let us renew our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
2. Jesus is not going to handle this on his own; he wants us to play an active role in the miracle. That is why he takes notice of the boy who has five loaves and two fish. Jesus needs us to bring the little we have, and he will multiply it fully. How often do we ask God to listen to our needs, but we don't do our part by living our Christian commitments! Even more so, how often do we want the miracles of God, while forgetting about the God of miracles!
3. Those five thousand men ate until they were full, and there were twelve baskets still left over, but not everyone saw the significance of spiritual bread in those physical loaves. They got caught up in the gift and forgot about the giver; they did not realize that the giver was even better than the gift, or rather that the real gift was the giver himself. Saint Augustine writes: "You are looking for me for the flesh, but not for the spirit... You are looking for me for another reason -- look for Me for my own sake!"
To eat means to believe in Him. In this feast of Corpus Christi, Jesus invites us to be raised to another level. We are workers struggling for our daily sustenance; the problem of bread is as important to us as the problem of water was to the Samaritan woman. Jesus invites us to work not for the food that will perish, but for the food that remains unto eternal life.
To live the Eucharistic mystery, which is the summary of our spiritual and temporal life, we need to be mature in our faith. The Jews of that time were not; rather they were only looking for material things, looking only for bread from the oven. May the daily concern of finding bread for our children not make us forget about Sunday Mass where we receive Jesus, the living bread come down from Heaven. He is bread, He is light, He is the shepherd. "The one who eats this bread will live forever," says the Lord.